1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to protectors of electrical wires and, more particularly, to protectors of wires in electrical utility boxes especially adapted for protecting the wires when drywall or wallboard is installed outside the electrical utility boxes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With wires that are present in electrical utility boxes, it is often desirable to protect those wires from damage, especially from damage during construction where drywall or wallboard is being installed outside the electrical utility boxes. Plane sheets of drywall or wallboard do not contain openings allowing access to electrical utility boxes. In this respect, access holes must be cut in the drywall or wallboard to gain access to the wires in the electrical utility boxes. To assure proper locating of the access holes, the plane sheet of drywall or wallboard is often placed over a electrical utility box, and an access hole is cut in the drywall or wallboard. The cutting of the access holes in the drywall poses the greatest danger of damaging the electrical wires in the electrical utility boxes. In this respect, it would be desirable if wires inside electrical utility boxes could be protected from damage during cutting operations of cutting access holes in the drywall or wallboard. Subsequently below, statements relating to drywall are understood to relate also to wallboard.
Throughout the years, a number of innovations have been developed relating to protecting electrical wiring inside electrical utility boxes, in circumstances such as when drywall is being installed adjacent to the electrical utility boxes, and the following U. S. patents are representative of some of those innovations: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,979,633, 5,301,437, 5,562,222, 5,639,991, and 5,710,392. More specifically, each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,979,633, 5,301,437, 5,562,222, 5,639,991, and 5,710,392 share a common characteristic. That is, a separate and distinct cover is first installed on an electrical utility box when there is a need to protect the electrical wiring, and then the separate and distinct cover is completely removed from the electrical utility box when there is no longer a need to protect the electrical wiring. In this respect, with the patents set forth above, there is a need to carry out an installation procedure, and there is a need to carry out a substantially reversed removal procedure. In this sense, the installation procedure and the removal procedure require duplicate efforts in reverse. In order to save time, it would be desirable if a protector for electrical wiring in an electrical utility box were provided that does not require duplicate efforts in reverse for installation and removal.
Another common characteristic shared by the patents cited above is that the protector for electrical wiring in an electrical utility box does not have an additional function of serving as a guide for the drywall which is installed. In this respect, it would be desirable if such an electrical wiring protector is provided that also serves as a guide for drywall that is installed.
Generally, with the patents cited above, a hand tool is need both to install and remove the respective electrical utility box protector. For purposes of simplicity and efficiency, it would be desirable if an electrical utility box protector were provided that includes a protector portion that can be readily removed by hand, without the need for a hand tool, when the wiring protective function is no longer needed.
Often when access holes are cut in drywall to access electrical utility boxes, the inner borders of the cut access holes are rough and uneven. To reduce roughness or unevenness immediately adjacent to the access holes, it would be desirable to provide a ring around the access holes, wherein the ring is a part of the overall electrical wiring protector.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use protectors for electrical wiring in electrical utility boxes, the prior art described above does not teach or suggest a wire protecting ring apparatus which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) protects wires inside electrical utility boxes from damage during cutting operations of cutting access holes in drywall or wallboard; (2) does not require duplicate efforts in reverse, for installation and removal; (3) serves as a guide for drywall that is installed; (4) includes a protector portion that can be readily removed by hand, without the need for a hand tool, when the wiring protective function is no longer needed; and (5) provides a ring around the access holes, wherein the ring is a part of the electrical wiring protector. The foregoing desired characteristics are provided by the unique wire protecting ring apparatus of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.
To achieve the foregoing and other advantages, the present invention, briefly described, provides a ring apparatus which includes a back plate which has peripheral fastener reception slots and which has a back plate central access channel. A riser wall projects outward from the back plate, wherein the riser wall is located peripheral to the back plate central access channel. A front frame is connected to a top portion of the riser wall, wherein the front frame defines a front frame access channel which is in partial registration with the back plate central access channel. The front frame includes fastener reception channels. A pair of links are connected to opposite sides of the front frame, wherein the links are located along a common link axis. A removable protector plate or partition is connected to the pair of links, wherein the removable protector plate is located in the front frame access channel and covers the back plate central access channel. Preferably, the links are twist links, and the removable protector plate is separated from the twist links by twisting the removable protector plate around on the twist links, around the link axis. Prior to removal of the removable protector plate, the removable protector plate prevents wires in an open electrical box from being cut by a cutting tool that is used to cut a window in a sheet of drywall.
Preferably, the back plate and the front frame lie in spaced-apart parallel planes. Preferably, the,riser wall has a height that is approximately equal to a thickness of a sheet of drywall.
With one embodiment of the invention, the front frame access channel and the back plate central access channel are large enough to receive a single electrical receptacle. With another embodiment, the front frame access channel and the back plate central access channel are large enough to receive two electrical receptacles. In addition, it is contemplated that embodiments of the invention can be made to accommodate up to nine electrical receptacles or switches.
The above brief description sets forth rather broadly the more important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contributions to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will be for the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least two preferred embodiments of the invention in detail, it is understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood, that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved wire protecting ring apparatus which has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved wire protecting ring apparatus which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved wire protecting ring apparatus which is of durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved wire protecting ring apparatus which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such wire protecting ring apparatus available to the buying public.
Still yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved wire protecting ring apparatus which protects wires inside electrical utility boxes from damage during cutting operations of cutting access holes in drywall or wallboard.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved wire protecting ring apparatus that does not require duplicate efforts in reverse, for installation and removal.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved wire protecting ring apparatus which serves as a guide for drywall that is installed.
Even another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved wire protecting ring apparatus that includes a protector portion that can be readily removed by hand, without the need for a hand tool, when the wiring protective function is no longer needed.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved wire protecting ring apparatus which provides a ring around the access holes, wherein the ring is a part of the overall electrical wiring protector.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel method of using a protector ring having a removable plate, partition or cover for temporarily protecting electrical wires in an electrical box during installation thereof and/or of material surfaces placed in proximity thereto.
These together with still other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.